Compressed-air refrigerating apparatus.



1 G. TELLIER. GOMPRESSED AIR REfEIGBRATING APPARATUS. I APPLICATION PILEBD MAY 25, I905. 923,604 Patented June 1, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 G. TELLIER.

COMPRESSED AIR REPBIGERATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION-FILED MAY 25, 1905.

Patented June .1, 1909.

a SHEETS-SHEET 21 G. TELLIER.

COMPRESSED AIR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

' APPLIOATION FILED MAY26, 1905.

923,604. Patented June 1, 1909 a SHEETS-SHEET. a.

nan ln uznznr Z A 3/ 5 ..W/7WES\8S: A mm/v 70R UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFIon' CHARLES TELLIER, OF Pa ns, FRANCE.

COMPRESSED-AIR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

No. 923,604. i

preserving, industrial applications, etc by means of air isothermically compressed andv i othermically expanded. The apparatus may be actuated by any mechanical or animal power, or by a motor combined with either of these.

An apparatus embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which,

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of the apparatus. Fig. 1 is a detail of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsection through the axes of the compressor andthe expander, out-he line C-D' of Fig.1. Fig. 3 .is a diagrammatic sectionalv plan on line r 'B of Fig. 1, on-a smaller scale. Fig. 4.

is a vertical section of the water-separating apparatus, Fig. 5 is a part sectional View of a modified construction of the temperature interchanging apparatus. Fig. 6 is'a detached view 'of thodischarge'valves for the water used in the compressor a. Fig. 7

shows an enlarged sectional view, of one of the said valves.

interchanger e,

compressing pump a, b, a motor shaftfc,

isolating casing 57, and an automatic water separator h, the latter being shown in dotted lines in-Fig. 3,and in vertical section in' Fig'. 4. The action of the apparatus is as folows:

The air is compressed 'isothermically by the pump a to the required degree of compression, and (being'mixed with moisture) is led by the pipef (Fig. 1) into the auto matic water separator 71., which in Fig. 1 is pipe 'ch lea sit hidden by' the heat exchanger e,but is shown in section in Fig. 4.- It is there separated from the Water with which it was mixed in the co n ression ump and issues through a to theexpansion cylinder'b.

Byithe expansion of the air in the cylin- ,der 6 heat is absorbed, and the resulting Specification of Letters Patent. App1ication'fi1ed May 25, 1905. Serial No. 262,291.

q I 'said cylinder. have invented certain new purposes, such as freezing,

Patented June 1, 1909.

(cooling effect is transmitted to a'current of f-incongealable liquid circulating through the This current of liquid is taken from thefreezing apparatus f by the tube hwhichis connected by a .check' valve to. each chamber of the expansion cylinder 6, a similar check valve being shown at Z (Fig. 1-) connected to the compression pump a. The current of liquid thus refrigerated passes eitherto the to any other refrigerating apparatus for producing .the required cooling action.

Having thus generally :stated the arrangement of the apparatus, I will now proceed to describe the same in detail.

and 2, the principal parts are mounted upon the interchanging-'- apparatus c. The compression pump a 1s composed of a bored cylinder 0,

provided with a piston g," above the cylinder 0 at the height of the piston g is a rectangular space 7* at the same level as a space .9 above t-he funneLshaped chamber '79 (Fig. 2) -with the lower end of thecylinder 0.

plates arranged one above theother at a certain distance apart, such as from 4 to 6 mm, this distance beiiig maintained by means of the heads of rivets in the plates.

I T i The spaces r and s have at top one or more 7 The apparatus consists mainly of an air. an expansion cylinder a slide 01, a temperature a freezing apparatus f, an

suction and discharge valves, one of the suction valves being shown at t (Flg. 1) while the discharge valves are shown at a any form of valves or slides may be employed; By the action of the piston 9 air is drawn in through valves t, and after compression is forced out through the valves u. At each suction stroke of the piston a small quantity-ofwater is drawn in, which at each expelling stroke of the whicheveris in operation. The water is introduced through the check-valve Z (Flg. l), the quantity being regulated by means during the com ression.-- I

r The result 0 the above arrangement s as follows 1) The compression of the an is effected under the withdrawal of an opfreezing. apparatus f or two upright supports m a cast in one with top stroke of the The spaces 9* and 8 contain thin perforated tional amount of heat, which may vary be- In the ,type of apparatus shown in Figs. 1

Fig. 2, communicating with a chamber 79 (Fig. 2); the cylinder 0 being -Which communicates (Fig. 2). Their-number may be varied, and

p1ston. completely fills the chamber r or s of a cook a on the supply pipe, so as to. regulate the degree of cooling of the air driven off. fills all the empty spaces.

tween the temperature of the water employed and that of the compressed air discharged from'cylinder a. (2) No leakage of air can take place past the piston, as it is covered on each side with water. (,3) The valves are "also protected against leakage bythe water.

(4) There are no dead spaces, as during the "compression the excess of water which is In consequence .of the above facts, high compression pressures can be employed,

which greatly reduces the bulk of the appa- I'atuSfl These various conditionsenable the compression pump to work with a maximum output. The slide (2, the connecting .rodof the cranked driving shaftc, and the- Y bearings of thelatter, are of any suitable known construction.

The motor shaft 0 carries a fly-wheel at' one" end as shown in Fig; .2,"while on the other-end maybe mounted driving pulleys or toothed gear, or it may be directly connectedto a motor, unless it be preferred to arrange a motor cylinder in tandem with the pump a and expansion cylinder 6.. The expansion cylinder .12 is arranged similarly to the compression pump a, being constructed withchambers w and a: similar to 1' and s, but in place of circulating water through the same an incongealable liquid is employed which issupplied from the freezing apparatus f through a pipe k.

- 6 on the shaftsy and z.

i The distribution of the compressed air is 'efiected by means of valves actuated by two shaftsy'and 2 which pass through stuffing boxes into the supply and discharge chambers 3 and-2. These shafts y and-s are 'driven from the motor shaft 0 by means of a toothed wheel 4 gearingwith an intermediate wheel 5 which gears with. pinions As shown in Fi 1, shaft 2 works the supply valves 7 and y, the discharge valves 8, the shafts carrying disks with. studs or rollers, which are shown at 9 and 10, Fig. 1, and at 10, 10, Fig. 2. Springs 11, 11 act upon the valves for effecting their rapid closure. They can be arranged as equilib-.

rium valves, in particular for large machines.

At each stroke of the piston acharge of compressed. air is admitted to the cylinder through the valves 7 and expanded, and is into chamber 2 whence it issues through opening 14, Fig. 2, and passes through pipe 15, Fig. 1, into the spacev 16 in the base of the machine. A pump 17 draws the liquid from l6 through pipes 18' and forces it through. pipe 19 into the lower part of the freezing chamber f, the action of which is thus rendered continuous.

" As the liquid absorbs the water carried along by the compressed air, an overflow opening 20 is provided in the freezing Cllitll'k ber f, and the diluted liquid thus discharged is-collected, and after being concentrated again it is passed back into the circulation. The air separated from the liquid in chamber 16 being still very cold, this cold is utilized in order to increase the economy of the apparatus by passing the air through the tubes 21, 21 of thecold interchanging apparatuse, the openings at the upper ends of which tubes are very restricted in order to insure the better -distribution of the air through all the tubes. Water supplied through the cock controlled by a float 22 passes into the space of the interehanger snr rounding the tubes. 21, and consequently takes up 'the cold from the air passing through. This water is withdrawn at will through the pipes 23 with cock 24 for filling the molds of the .ice machine with cooled water. Thus any materialloss of cold is prevented. If no production of ice is required, the cold of the air passing through the tubes 21 may be taken up either by the cooling fluids coming back from cooling chambers or by the compressed air on its way to the expan- 'sion cylinder, as shown by Fig. 5.

In cylinders in whichliquid is propelled .by the piston,-it happens that atthe end of the stroke a portion of the liquid is confined during the time intervening between the closing of the discharge valve and the opening of the inlet valve, whence concussions arise which are transmitted to the rest of the apparatus, and which should therefore be avoided. In order to avoid these concussions in the present apparatus I provide an enlargement of the rectangular chambers of the cylinder beyond the surface 25, against which the valves 8 close as shown at Figs. 1 and 2, which el'ilargcment constitutes a chamber into which the excess of liquid can pass and which will also contain a small quantityof air acting as a buffer to prevent the said concussions. This body of liquid and air under compression will also facilitate the starting of the piston on the suction stroke. In apparatus of large dimensions the said enlargement may be made of Sullicient size to contain a, loose piston, having a cushion of air behind it. The apparatus for separating the compressed air and water, coming from the compressing cylinder, is shown in vertical section at h' (Fig. 4). It

plpe 2' (see Fig. 1) and is projected against a the water falls back into screen 29, whence the chamber h so as to raise the float 27, thereby lifting the stopper 100 of the valve 30 and allowing the water to escape into the tank 31, whence it flows oil" through a pipe 32. The compressed air passing through the screen 29 issues through a bent pipe 33 into freezing molds or for the space above a dished partition 34, which catches any .water carried along by the air, such water being discharged through a pipe 101 into a surrounding tube 35 having overflow openings at top through which the water flows off into the chamber h. The compressed air flows off through a finel perforated plate 36, andis conducted by the pipe j to the expansion cylinder.

Fig.. 5 shows a modified construction of the cold interchanger e, a cover 37 at top, instead of being open, and the water being supplied thereto by a pipe 38, any air collecting in the upper part of the casing being discharged through a cock 39, so that the casing is thus always maintained full of water surrounding the tubes 21, which are traversed by the air coming from the' expander. This cooled water is then drawn off at need for the filling of the other purposes.

The water arriving in the separator (Fig. 4) is under considerable pressure, and in large machines it might be used for driving a small hydraulic moterwonnected with the apparatus. In smaller machines, however, it is preferable to withdraw the greater portion of the water during the period of the suction stroke of the air-compressing cylin der when there is only a slight pressure. The apparatus shown in Figs. 6 and 7 serves for this'purpose. The shafts y and a'that work the valves of the expansion cylinder are provided with cams 40 and 41 of which 41 on shaft y is shown on an enlarged scale in F igf7 this cam in re volving with the shaft acts on the lever 42, which, during the suction strokeof pression pump, lifts a valve/43 in'a box communicating by a pipe 44 with the chamber of the compression pump, asfshown in -Fig. 6, and thus allows a certain amount ofwater to be discharged from'thi's chamber during the suction strokes. A, cock 45 enables the.

quantity of water to be regulatedv It isto be understoodthat thereis,a. .separate dis- I charge valve 43 and pump chambers.

pipe-44 for each of the Z Z, Fig. 6, are the before I described water inlet valves to the pump chambers Referring again to F i gs. .1. and. 2.. it \Vlll be seen that the slide cl Which is this being closed by- -plates are maintained (Fig.'2),'

.inder,

and 3, which plates are constantly cooled by a current of water. Consequently the heat of compression is absorbed by these plates as it is produced, and the compression is effected isothermically; the same heat beingtaken up by the current of water.

- The air and water pass out of the compressor by the valves u and pipe 2', Figs. 1 and 2, to the separator, Fig. 4. The water escapes by the orifice 30, while the air cscapes by the tube j and passesover to the, expander Z). This expander is a true motor cylinder with this difference -fromthe ord1 nary motor cylinders, that it carries two chambers to and m filled with perforated metallic plates similar to thosein the chambers 1' and 8. These plates are wet by a current of incongealable liquid which conveys the cooling act-ion either to the cooler f or to any other desired cooling apparatus. The

at a cooling temperature determined by the quantity of incongealable' liquid in circulation. Consequently the'expansion takes place at the temperature of these plates, and cannot be ofany substantially lower temperature. This is a great advantage,-since the motive power'of the air which is operated on and which is opposed to the res stance of the compressor is thus utilized in great proportion and thus diminishes the force whichis required to operate the apparatus.

The expanded air passes through the temperature exchanger c containing the water which is to serve for the freezing operation. This water being submitted to the cooling effect of the circulating air is the more easily manufactured into ice. If, instead of 'manufacturing ice, the machine is used .for-

employed in the machine, or air which .is. to

be cooled, or other iVhat I claim is:

1. An apparatus for medium.

producing cold by the expansion (if-compressed air, including in combination a compressor, and atemperature air compression cylinder'and the air expansion cylinder being provided with two chambers 1 and s and w w, superposed perforated an expansion cylinterchang'ef, the

metal-plates in said chambers, and means for causing a current of water to flow through 7 said plates to take up heat from the compressed air. I

2. An apparatus for producing cold by the expansion of compressed air, including in spaces, and thereby to prevent leakage of air through the stufli boxes, pistons and valves, and to enable igh compression pressures to beobtained, substantially as described.

, 3. An apparatus for producing cold by the expansion of compressed air, including 'in combination a compressor, an expansion cylinder, and a temperature interchanger, the air compression cylinder and the air expansion cylinder being provided with two chambers 1" and s and 'w w, superposed perforated metal plates in said chambers, and means.for

causmg a current of-water to flow through said plates to take'up heat from the compressed air, and an air chamber for preventing concussion ofthe liquid at the end of the compression scribed. 4. -An apparatus for producing cold by the stroke, substantially as deexpansion of compressed air, including in said plates' to take up heat from the compressed air, and means for preventing con-.

cussion of. the-liquid at the end of the compression stroke, substantially as described.

5. An apparatus for producing cold by the expansion of compressed air, including in combination a compression'cylinder, an expansibn cylinder, pistons and piston rods working in said cylinders, and 'a temperature interchanger; the air compression cylinder andv the air expansion cylinder being provided with two chambers r and s and w w, superposed perforated metal plates in said chambers, and means for causing in the one a current of water to flow through said plates to take up heat from the compressed air, and in the other case incongealable liquid to take up cold from the expanded air, the piston wager the compression and expansion cylinders being connected tandem-wise, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 11th day of May 1905, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES TELLIER.

Witnesses J ULES ARMENGAUD, J eune, HANSON vC. Coxu. 

